The ABCs of scandalous words, gestures and bowling

From June 25, 2015:

How did the middle finger come to be called the “bird?”

The use of the middle finger as an obscene gesture is very old and goes back to ancient Greece.

In “The Cloud” one of the characters gives Socrates the finger, to which he replies, “You are a crude buffoon.”

“Flipping the bird,” comes from the 1860 slang expression “give the big bird.” That meant to hiss like a goose, such as an audience hissing at a bad actor.

It seems to have moved to the middle finger gesture sometime in the 1960s.

If you were to bowl in the nude, would you be allowed to wear bowling shoes?

I would hope so.

When someone uses a profanity, why do they say, “Pardon my French?”

Throughout history people of one group or society or nation have always found ways to look down and insult people from other groups. This has been especially true of the English and French.

Historically, the English have always found ways to suggest there is something not quite right about the French.

Of course, the French did the same about the British, but we speak English and not French.

Sexually transmitted diseases were known as “the French pox.” A condom was called a “French letter” and prostitution was known as a “French lesson.” In the 1740s “French novels” were thought to be at the least spicy and the most pornographic. “Pardon my French” as an apology for vulgar or overly blunt language first appeared in “Harpers Magazine” in 1895.

Where did we get the A-B-C song children sing to memorize their letters?

The song came along in the 1830s, maybe from “ABC — An Air with Variations for the Flute with an Easy Accompaniment for the Piano Forte.” Others say it was called “The Schoolmaster.”

The melody has been used in “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” the German “Ist das nicht ein Schnitzelbank?” and French “Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman.”